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For many reasons..but most importantly to me... I hate the fact that every corner of WDW being turned into a hotel for DVC members; I hate the placement of this building in relation to the neat a-frame design of the original Contemporary building, which has always been a cosmetically marvel in the landscape at WDW. I feel the hotel won't add anything to Tomorrowland background once it's finished. They screwed up the original Contemporary design when they added the convention center and now they are finally putting the last nail in the Contemporary's coffin with this furnace of a building. I don't think that once completed, we'll never be able to admire the cutting edge design that is the original Contemporary Hotel with that sore thumb next to it.

Finally, while I realize this is a money making venture for Disney Co, I'd much rather prefer to see the moeny they are spending on time shares, being spent to upgrade the MK, which as of now, stands as the most dated, least magical of all of the DL parks built on Earth. That is what I'd like to see first and foremost, before WDW becomes "Walt Disney's World of Hotels and Time Shares"

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For many reasons..but most importantly to me... I hate the fact that every corner of WDW being turned into a hotel for DVC members; I hate the placement of this building in relation to the neat a-frame design of the original Contemporary building, which has always been a cosmetically marvel in the landscape at WDW. I feel the hotel won't add anything to Tomorrowland background once it's finished. They screwed up the original Contemporary design when they added the convention center and now they are finally putting the last nail in the Contemporary's coffin with this furnace of a building. I don't think that once completed, we'll never be able to admire the cutting edge design that is the original Contemporary Hotel with that sore thumb next to it.

ok. And I don't necessarily disagree with you. Though I like the DVC as a general concept

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Again... I am not putting you down for that. I am quite ok with people liking the concept or being part of it. I just wish they would take in concideration some aspects of the resort's theme and design before plopping an addition that will drastically change the face of a very popular and visible spot since the day WDW opened in 1971. They did wonders adding the DVC to the Beach Club and the Wilderness Lodge... it was done well. The Contemporary should've been allowed to stand by itself. It's just my preference and it does not mean anything.

The Walt Disney Co. has won approval to begin selling time shares in a 15-story tower the company is erecting next to its famed Contemporary Resort, a $110 million addition that Disney has named "The Kingdom Tower."

Disney has for months refused to divulge its plans for the hard-to-miss, half-built tower that is rising just outside the gates of the Magic Kingdom -- despite rampant speculation among Disney fans that it is destined for time shares.

A spokeswoman for the company's time-share division, Disney Vacation Club, would not discuss the project in detail again Monday.

But in new filings with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Disney formally states that the Disney Vacation Club will "add a ninth component site to be known as Kingdom Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort."

Disney says in the documents that it will sell the time shares in phases, beginning with an initial 75 units. The Kingdom Tower, which will connect to the existing Contemporary via a fifth-floor pedestrian bridge, will ultimately contain 281 units, according to the filings.

A spokesman for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which awarded a time-share license to the Kingdom Tower project earlier this month, said Disney has now been cleared to start selling units at any time.

"They can begin," department spokesman Sam Farkas said.

Disney appears in no rush. The company says in the documents it doesn't expect to finish the Kingdom Tower until the fall of 2009.

Analysts say the company can afford to be patient. The Kingdom Tower, they say, is likely to prove a huge seller, given that it will be the closest time shares Disney has built to the Magic Kingdom -- the busiest theme park in the world -- and the first built directly alongside Disney's monorail.

"I'd have to imagine that's going to be an extremely popular product," said Jeremy Glaser, a lodging-industry analyst with Morningstar.

Some analysts think Disney is withholding a formal Contemporary announcement because it does not want to undermine time-share sales at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas or Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, both of which are still selling units. The company's four other time-share resorts at Walt Disney World -- as well as one each in Vero Beach and Hilton Head, S.C. -- are sold out.

Glaser, however, said Disney's silence "could just be some trademark Disney secrecy."

Disney's filings with the state also offer more detail about the Kingdom Tower's amenities.

A new swimming pool, for instance, will be large enough for 180 people; go as deep as 4 feet, 11 inches; and feature two hot tubs and a 104-foot-long water slide. There will be two tennis courts, two shuffleboard courts and two boccie ball courts. A barbecue pavilion will have about 490 square feet of covered area and a pair of picnic tables.

Glaser predicted that Disney will choose to market the Contemporary time shares "as more of an upscale product." An early point-chart submitted by Disney to the state -- Disney Vacation Club owners buy points from the company, which they then redeem for rooms, though they must buy through a "home resort" -- shows guests will have to spend more points to rent one- and two-bedroom units at the Kingdom Tower than any of Disney's other existing time shares.

In a further step toward cementing the new tower's status as a time-share resort, Disney has created a new condominium association that would manage the resort once units are sold off to individual owners. State records show that the "Kingdom Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort Condominium Association" was formally incorporated Jan. 9.

The Kingdom Tower continues a wave of construction for Disney's fast-growing Vacation Club. The company is in the midst of building its first time shares at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and has announced plans to build an 800-room resort in Hawaii in which at least half of the units will be time shares.

Disney also recently obtained approval to rebuild its little-known Treehouse Villas, a 60-unit community in a heavily forested area of Disney World.

The move has prompted speculation that those units, too, could be converted to time shares.

The widespread building boom comes even as the U.S. economy teeters on the brink of a possible recession.

But Tammie Kaufman, a professor at the University of Central Florida who teaches courses on time shares, said time shares could remain popular even during an economic slump because consumers will want to stretch their vacation money further.

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Personally, I think it would have been a better idea to demo both garden wings and build DVC wings on both sides of the original tower. But, make the wings maybe 8 or 9 stories instead of 16. That way the original hierarchy of the building could have been preserved. That would have been the lesser of two evils for me at least.

I've never minded the convention center because I always thought it was low enough to not compete at all with the tower. And, I like the architect that designed it.

All I can say is I hope the rumor of a second 16-story DVC tower on the South side is just that - a rumor.

-Tim

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Personally, I think it would have been a better idea to demo both garden wings and build DVC wings on both sides of the original tower. But, make the wings maybe 8 or 9 stories instead of 16. That way the original hierarchy of the building could have been preserved. That would have been the lesser of two evils for me at least.

Thank you!! Some one who understands how I feel and could write it up better than in my broken english and accent.

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I forsee the day when the original Contemporary Tower will be demolished to build a larger, more modern structure.

You may just be correct Mikeland. After all.. Disney may feel the need to add to the capacity for profits. Or the old building modular construction may start to unmodulate with the vibration of the monorails after all these years... It would not surprise me one bit.

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Don't be surprised to see a similar tower added to the Southern side in a few years.

I have seen non-official concept art of a property similar to what was described by halltd. I actually have a copy of it on file but shall not post it without permission.
I think that it is a great alternative design.

sigpic

Originally posted by Phonedave

Well, if your parents can't teach you, maybe you can learn from a taser.